Did the First Jurassic Park Use Animatronics

In its original iteration, Jurassic Park utilized both practical and computer generated imagery (CGI). Special effects artist Stan Winston created an animatronic T-Rex while Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) handled CGI dinosaurs.

Spielberg had long dreamt of working with dinosaurs as the subject matter for one of his films, so he joined forces with author Michael Crichton and director of photography Dennis Muren to produce one.

Animatronics in Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park remains an iconic film even long after it has left theaters, standing out as an innovation in cinematic special effects. Notably, its dinosaurs are not simply digital creations; rather, they combine real life creature effects with CGI that come together like cinematic atomic fission. Realistic animatronic dinosaurs were utilized. 

Jurassic Park introduced audiences to dinosaurs that are so convincing on screen, leaving audiences breathless with amazement. Jurassic Park pioneered using both animatronics and computer generated dinosaurs - something now ubiquitous across modern blockbusters.

Stan Winston Studios created two full-sized Tyrannosaurus rex animatronics for this production: one male and one female. The male would later return in Jurassic Park III (2001), featuring in its iconic fight scene against Spinosaurus. It was one of their largest and heaviest designs ever, boasting state of the art hydraulics designed by Tim Nordella and Lloyd Ball which could be controlled via an 18" telemetry device.

The T-Rex

During the iconic T-Rex breakout scene, an animatronic T-Rex was used for close-up shots of its head and jaws, enabling actors to interact closely with it for added realism in the sequence.

Gary Rydstrom blended sounds from various sources to give the Tyrannosaurus its trademark roar, one that would stand out among all the other dinosaurs due to its complexity of movements and sounds.

ILM created a computer-generated model, while Stan Winston and his team constructed an animatronic that weighed over 7 tons for closer shots.

As part of filming the Main T-Rex rig was regularly doused in water during shooting of the Main Road scene, due to the absorbent nature of foam rubber, its animatronic would quickly become saturated and require being dried with towels before filming could continue.

The Velociraptor

Velociraptor was among the deadliest dinosaurs seen in Jurassic Park. To enhance close-up shots and add movement and tension in scenes, animatronics were created as 48 Velociraptor raptors for use by the team behind this film.

The raptors were partly mechanical and used cable control for their arms while their heads could be operated remotely via radio waves. Furthermore, each unit contained a hydraulic system which allowed their heads to turn twice the rate of gravity while their feet moved in three distinct directions simultaneously.

Stan Winston Studios raptors would often get sopping wet when shooting outside due to the absorbent properties of foam rubber, leading crews to stop production before employing fans overnight to dry the animatronic before filming resumed again. Despite assurances from Universal Studios, the Stan Winston Studios raptors would often become saturated during shooting due to rain. As this required crews to halt production before using fans to dry it before continuing shooting again.

Since waterproof raptors were required, the team had to alter how they created molds. By adapting aerospace-grade epoxy resins for making giant durable molds and then coating them with silicone that wouldn't absorb water, they were able to successfully produce outer skin for their dinosaurs.

The Triceratops

In the Jurassic Park movie, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) welcomes visitors to his dinosaur park; but lead programmer Dennis Nedry has other plans. He causes a security breach so he can steal embryonic dinosaurs before these hungry predators escape and attempt to take advantage. Everyone must work together in order to try and stay alive until all are accounted for.

Stan Winston Studios designed and constructed a lifesize Triceratops animatronic for use in the film, using a small scale maquette as a guideline for how it should move and where cables and pulleys should be attached.

At every point in time during its demonstration, the triceratops showed lifelike movements and emotional reactions - from breathing to flaring her nostrils, blinking, urinating, lifting its leg defensively and even producing an odor! Sound designer Gary Rydstrom combined various animal noises into an original and distinct sound for this dinosaur instead of using repeated roars as seen in previous dinosaur movies.